


The Apostate and the Deserter

by KaedeRavensdale



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Dragon Age AU because i thought it would be a fun project, Dragons, Elves, Eren is a Dreamer, Eren is a Mage, Levi is a Templar, M/M, Magic, Mikasa Ackerman & Levi Are Related, Pre-Blight in Origins timeline, dark spawn invasion, may eventually have a sequel if this ends up being popular enough, riren - Freeform, won't be updated regularly until Metanoia is finished
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-28
Updated: 2015-05-21
Packaged: 2018-03-20 00:36:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3630129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaedeRavensdale/pseuds/KaedeRavensdale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren Yeager is many things; Dreamer, healer, host to the Spirit of Courage and Apostate mage on the run from the chantry. He does all in his power to keep himself in the shadows and not make trouble while doing what he can to help those in need, but he quickly finds his life turning upside down when the Ackerman twins-Templars looking for blood mages-come to be staying in the very same inn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Fade

It was a strange place that fact was the simple truth, impossible to get around. A foreboding place. A forbidding place. Here it was always night, time had no meaning, landmarks were rare to be found and even if stumbled upon they were but scattered perversions of their true world selves. In this realm of dreams anything and nothing were possible at the same time, and reality was ruled by the strength of ones will and the extent of their imagination. It was an odd place. Disconcerting. Inhabited by everything from benevolent spirits to the Demons that fed upon the most atrocious sins of mortal man ever overshadowed by the stained-black castle ever floating on the horizon but impossible to reach. The Fade, the Humans called. The Beyond, as it was known to the Elves. Mages feared it for their vulnerability to its darker denizens and yet relied on it for it was from there whence they drew their power; mortals-baring the Dwarves of course, who did not dream-entered in and out fleetingly and most times unaware, always searching, always confused and easy prey to the Demons should they chose to play their demented little games as they often did. No matter the origin of the visitor or their reason for being there, most were in a great hurry to leave but not him. He was an exception to that rule; he found he often was. A mage. A Dreamer, they called him; his connection to this twisted realm ran far deeper than most. The power that he drew from it while in the mortal world was greater. His ability to manipulate it while beyond the veil was matched only by the spirits themselves that inhabited that realm. He could enter it at will, not having to rely upon slumber or a ritual to send him there. He felt more at home there, in a realm that was not truly his own, than he did in the waking world because in the Fade he didn’t have to hide what he was from the Chantry or their Templar goons in fear of being sent to a Circle or, worse, labeled as a Maleficar. Blood Mages; the mere thought of them and their twisted savage magics made him shudder to his core. Mages-Elven and Human alike-who had given in to the empty promises of Demons only to be overtaken by the power for which they had so lusted as to trade their very souls. He himself had run into a Demon before; a Pride Demon, the most powerful of their kind. He was but a child then, just having lost his family and escaping to the Fade in hopes of re-entering the waking realm far away where his troubles could not find him; it cornered him after hours of fleeing when he fell too tired to run and resist but he had been saved from a truly horrible fate by An’owyn the Spirit of Courage who trotted at his side as a glowing white wolf but in the real world was bounded to his very soul. Demons didn’t bother him now, sheltered as he was by the spirits blinding light and sharp fangs.

“Eren,” pausing in his ceaseless wandering, the teen glanced down at the spirit in response to its call of his name. “Why do you do this? Wander the raw Fade? You’re asleep now; let your mind rest. Dream, for once, as normal mortals do.”

“I would, if things were as they should be. But deep down in my soul I know they’re not; something big is coming. Something bad. I was hoping that I could find hints as to what it was here.”

“Dreams do not tell of the future. You know that.” Green eyes diverted themselves away from the spirit’s luster back into the hazy darkness of the void surrounding them on all sides. “I do not know what is coming any more than you do, and though I can guess I cannot tell you. But I can tell you that your instincts are correct. Something dark, something old, is coming. And coming soon. You will need your strength if you are to stand any chance at surviving it. Day dawns beyond the veil; your friend will soon be in to wake you. Do your best to go about your life as you normally would, worry will help nothing.”

“You’re right, An’owyn.” He replied after a moment. “It’s likely a war; a human army sweeping across the land. The Qunari at worst, though I doubt that much. It will be…simply resolved. Something passing. By this time next year, or perhaps the year after, this worry will be no more than a passing memory. I suppose that this is farewell for now; until I call upon you.” “Indeed; I’m sure that you are right, things will be fine and fleeting.”

But once the Dreamer-Mage was gone, the spirit in the form of a wolf shook his head. “Oh, child.” He grumbled to himself, gazing out in the direction that his companion had been to see the familiar black castle floating hauntingly on the horizon ever out of reach. “If only you knew.”


	2. A Fairly Inconvenient Turn of Events

 

                The air was swelteringly hot, dryer than desert bones and as foul as the breath of a dragon. The sky spanned above their heads in an endless spinning eternity of cerulean blue with not a single cloud in sight, the sun hanging like a blazing golden coin from a string attached to the heavens beating down upon them with its blistering rays. Late summer insects shrieked in the hills surrounding them, the grass surrounding the rutted road dried to a shriveled hopeless brown and the earth beneath their feet had been reduced to a fine and rather ash-like dust that clogged the air around them and settled on their silver armor and in their hair as the pair of Templars-one a male and one a female who, though with a fairly substantial difference in height between them, the familial resemblance was undeniable-made their way down the road towards the little town at the bottom of the hill.

                “It’s hotter than Andraste’s ass out here!”  The shorter male yowled, carding a hand through his formerly black hair sending a cloud of pale grey dust falling down onto his shoulders. “We’ve been walking since morning and I swear by the Maker that that village hasn’t gotten any closer!”

                “Levi,” the woman, his sister, groaned. “This isn’t the Fade and that isn’t the Black Castle; we’ll reach the village within the hour.”

                “I recall you saying that very same thing three hours ago, dear sister!”

                “I’ve never known you to be one to complain.”

                “Tch! I’m covered head to toe in dirt and sweat, I haven’t had a proper shower in a week, it’s 1000 fucking degrees out here and I’ve become far too familiar with what the _ground_ tastes like than I would ever wish to! I’m not exactly in a pleasant mood!”

                “Well, the faster that we carry out this job the better then though I agree completely that these conditions are absolutely abhorrent. Tonight we’ll be sleeping in a proper bed in a real inn; we’ll rest for a day before starting our search for them.” Pulling the gauntlet off of one hand, she raised it to her forehead to wipe away the sweat that had pasted her bangs to her skin. “There simply isn’t weather like this up in Lothering.”

                “This close to the wasteland of a desert that they call Orlais, I’m not surprised.” Speeding his pace despite his exhaustion, Levi pushed passed his sister to continue down the hill. “Next time, those robe clad bastards had better string for a couple horses for their ‘strongest warriors’.” Another hour and a half of walking passed in silence aside from their ragged panting and the hissing of the wind through dried out farmlands before they finally reached the little village. Oxen pulled carts full of hey and vegetables through the roads, scattering street goers and sending up massive clouds of dust. Children were playing in the streets, dressed in dirty rags and paying no mind to the fact that they were in the way of absolutely everything as they ran about and swiped things from market stalls. Stray dogs patrolled the empty off allies, scrounging for scraps in discarded heaps of garbage or else laying in the shade in an effort to cool off, boney chests heaving as tongues lolled out and white foam spilled from their muzzles. They passed by store fronts and restaurants and houses until finally finding their way to an Inn by name of The Blue Chalice. Inside it was dimly lit and far cooler than it had been outside, the windows open to allow in the occasional breeze to stir the air. A young man of no more than 15 stood behind the inn keeper’s desk, his brown hair falling into his large eyes as ragged cut bangs. Looking up on their entry, his expression faltered between shock and worry for a moment before he managed to paste a winning smile on his visage.

                “Welcome to the Blue Chalice; it certainly seems that the pair of you are weary. What can we do for the Chantry?”

                “Two rooms, two meals and a shit load of hot water for a shower.” Levi growled at him before he was finished speaking, spitting to one side in an effort to clear the grit from his mouth. “Something wrong, brat? You look a little pale after seeing us. You afraid of the Templars?”

                Again the boy hesitated before coming out from behind the desk. “No. No, I’m not afraid of Templars but rather what Templars would be doing here in this tiny far removed village. There are few things that your presence here could mean, and not a single one of them are good.” Out of habit he took quick stock of the other’s features, looking for any signs of deception or further nervousness; smooth unblemished skin cast in a tan complexion the precise golden hue of honey, hair-short, raggedly cut and sticking up in every imaginable direction-was a dark chestnut brown shot through with highlights of copper red and low lights of black and had the appearance of being soft as the finest silk and his eyes, a scintillating shade of Caribbean blue, wide, rimmed in black and almost elflike in the definition of their perfect almond shape. His clothes were simple, worn and cast in varying hues of dull brown but appeared clean enough. “You Orlseian, brat?”

                “What?” clearly the question had taken him by surprise as it took the boy a few moments to answer. “My mother was, so…yes. Half. Why do you ask?”

                “Your face is weird.” Well fuck, that came out wrong.

                Mikasa looked at him for a moment as if he’d sprouted a second head before she sighed. “You’ll have to excuse my brother. He isn’t exactly a roaring success in the department of social skills.”

                “It doesn’t matter; offending me is very difficult to do. And he is not the first to comment on my unique appearance, what with me being half Orlesian and half Elf.” The steps clunked hollowly beneath the scuffed leather boots he wore.

                “An elf from an alienage? You must be from Denerim, then; you’re rather far from home all the way out here.”

                “An alienage? No; my Father was Dalish.”

                “Dalish?” she repeated in shock as her brother looked at him sharply; now that he mentioned it, though not to the degree that a full blood elf would have, there was a noticeable point to the boy’s ears leading them to poke just slightly up from out of his hair. “But Elves hate humans.”

                “Dislike them? Yes. Hate them, sometimes. But love knows no bounds, as they say.” He shrugged his thin shoulders; he was delicate, almost frail looking in appearance and yet there was something about him which belied that should he need to this seemingly mild teen would be more than capable of defending himself. “This will be your room, Miss. Yours, Sir, is right across the hall. Feel free to stay as long as you like; 5 silvers a night includes both the room and any meals that you may wish to eat, however anything purchased at the bar will cost extra.”

                “Reasonable price.” Better than anything they’d have found elsewhere; the one shit stain of a town the name of which he hadn’t even bothered to remember had tried to charge them 4 gold a night for one tiny ass room that wasn’t even clean. Opening his coin pouch, Levi pulled 10 silver out to pay for both rooms and handed it over to the boy.

                “Thank you, believe me when I say that your business is greatly appreciated as the merchant season has yet to begin. Can I put any food on for you?”

                The twins glanced at each other for a moment before nodding. “Yes, please. We haven’t had anything close to a real meal in quite a while.”

                He flashed her a blinding smile and nodded. “I’ll set to preparing that right away; it should be ready in, at 20 minutes. Feel free to come down when you are ready.” He left them then, presumably to return to the front desk.

                “Well, he’s certainly a more pleasant host than we’ve had.” Mikasa noted once the youth’s shadow had disappeared. “And, those it doesn’t seem to be the most busy of inns, the Blue Chalice appears to be one of more higher end common inns.”

                “He’s at least five years younger than you.” Levi grunted, leaving her standing in the hallway as he opened the door to his room and went inside. It was good sized, tastefully decorated at least as far as way stops went and clean enough to barely scrape a passing grade by his standards. A shudder went down his spine as his mind again went back to the dust coated armor he was wearing. “Disgusting. Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting!” He tore off the straps, tossing the splint-mail aside without a second thought and listening to the hollow thunking of the metal colliding with the wooden floor. The sweat soaked clothing beneath was promptly peeled off and tossing to the floor as well. Entirely naked but not really caring given the fact that he was in privacy behind locked doors, Levi proceeded into the small wash closet and filled the tub with the water that had been left for them; it wasn’t cold but it wasn’t particularly warm either, though for the moment all that mattered was that he got all of the caked on dust dirt and sweat off of himself. Removing himself from the basin only after the water had turned black, he put on a set of clean clothes dug out of the supplies that he had brought with him before using a wet cloth to clear the dust from his armor and make it shine again. Just after he had finished that a knock on the door of his room from his sister reached his ears.

                “Levi, are you coming down?” Tossing the cloth aside to be dealt with later, he got to his feet off of the bed on which he’d been sitting before crossing to the door and opening it. “There you are; he said 20 minutes. What were you doing in there, redusting everything?”

                Rolling his eyes at his twin, he shook his head. “I took a much needed bath and then cleaned off all of the shit from my armor. The room, surprisingly, is just clean enough not to warrant being put to the cloth.” Stepping around her, he set off towards the stairs at the end of the hall without bothering to check and see if she was behind him or not. The dining room was occupied by only a handful of others, and the young man from earlier was now situated behind the bar. Catching sight of them, he smiled and disappeared into the kitchen before re-emerging with a tray in hand which he brought over to their table. “So you have black hair? I never would have guest, with how dusty the pair of you were earlier.” He snickered, setting the tray between them; two plates of fruit and cheese and bread and two bowls of hearty stew.

                “Ugh. Don’t remind me, brat.” He grumbled, carding a hand through his still damp hair.

                “The rooms are to your satisfaction?” both nodded.

                “Yes, they’re perfect. And the fact that my brother hasn’t demanded to be provided with cleaning fluids is a clear indication that your facility is quite clean.” Mikasa informed him, making the brown haired boy laugh.

                “I’m just an employee, though I do live here; the family that owns this inn took me in after I was orphaned. Armin, my best friend and the grandson of the owner, is the one who made your food. Which reminds me, can I get you anything to drink or would you prefer water?”

                “Wine would be nice, if you have it.” Levi grunted, the loaf of fresh bread on the plate cracking loudly as its browned crust was pulled apart.

                “Of course,” he walked off again to fetch a pitcher as the twins set into their meal like a pair of ravenous wolves.

                “After all those dried rations, having real food like this is a blessing from the Maker.” Levi rolled his eyes at his sister as she cut another slice of cheese to set on the bread.

                “I wouldn’t go quite that far, but you’re right. It’s a relief.”

                The boy returned a few moments later with a pitcher of red wine and two clay cups in hand. “Glad to see that you’re enjoying your food; Armin will be happy to hear that his cooking skills are appreciated.” Pouring the wine, he passed the cups out to both of them. “Need anything else?”

                “No, thank you. This is enough.”

                “If that’s the case, I’ll go on my break.” But he didn’t make a move to leave. “You don’t mind if I join you, do you? Like I said earlier, we don’t see much of the Chantry all the way out here, and I’m a little curious as to why you’re suddenly here.”

                A momentary pause as both looked at the boy before Levi nodded. “Sit.” The boy sat. “You have a name, right brat? Care to share?”

                “Oh, did I forget to introduce myself earlier? I’m sorry! My name is Eren.” Pulling out a chair he sat down at their table. “You have mine. Care to give me yours?”

                “Levi.”

                “Mikasa Ackerman.”

                “My pleasure to meet the both of you. Now, if you don’t mind me asking, what are you both doing here? Is there an apostate hold up somewhere or should we be worried about _them_?”

                “That depends, brat,” Levi replied, eyeing him carefully. “Who are the ‘them’ you’re referring to?”

                “Maleficar. Blood Mages.” He looked away. “I’m no Templar and I’m not a Mage either, but I know about them. The coven that murdered my family were never brought to justice!”

                “I’m not going to lie to you, brat. The Chantry got reports of some strange activity around here recently. We don’t know if they really are Blood Mages but until we learn otherwise we’re assuming that to be the case.”

                “You’ll catch them, won’t you?” the fear in his green eyes was genuine as he peered up at them again. “I don’t want to think that this village, full of good people who have done nothing wrong, could be in danger from those Demon worshipers.”

                “We’ll do our best to protect you and the rest of the town.” Mikasa assured him. “We’re not even sure that it really is a Blood Mage that we’re dealing with, so you shouldn’t worry.”

                “Well, even if there is something out there it does the soul good knowing that we’ve a pair of capable protectors. I-.” Something flashed in his eyes before his head jerked upwards towards the door like a hunting dog at attention; a man had just stumbled in, a street vagrant likely from the torn and dirty state of his clothing, looking over the room with worried eyes before catching sight of Eren and making a bee line straight for him. The boy rose to his feet to meet him, raising a hand quickly to rest it on the other’s shoulder. “What has happened that you’d seek me out?”

                “My son. He was injured playing in the fields. He needs a healer and they say that you’re the best in this town!” One hand delved into a torn and tattered pocket before pulling out a handful of copper. “Please. We don’t have much, but-.”

                “Keep your money. I don’t take payment for my services; no one has a right to put a price on life.” He replied quietly, gently pushing the man’s hand away. “I will meet you outside in a moment, I need to return to my room to gather some supplies.” The man nodded and left quickly; once he was gone, Eren turned back to them and gave a small respectful bow. “Forgive me, but I must cut this short as my other job calls for my attention. Maker bless you both, as they say. Good luck with your hunt.” Even for someone with long legs the kid moved shockingly fast, and he was long gone before either of them could open their mouths to question them.

                “Healers, I swear.” Levi grumbled into his stew. “All the oils from those damned plants they use leave their heads addled. You going to finish your bread?”

 

                Armin encountered his friend for the second time that day after he dragged himself back inside from the deep darkness of the night. He looked exhausted, physically and emotionally drained, with face drawn and shadows under his eyes. All in all he looked…older, as he always did when he returned from a healing.

                “I know that I could never ask you to stop doing it,” he said quietly, making the brunet look up at him as he allowed his weight to settled heavily against a nearby wall, “but I’ll warn you that in times like these especially it’s dangerous. Revealing to anyone and everyone that asks the right questions that you’re a mage…anyone of them who need money badly enough could turn you in as an apostate; see you killed or worse for a little bit of coin regardless of what you do for them without asking anything in return. And that danger is even greater now; not only do we not know what’s out there causing the disturbance but there a pair of _Templars_ staying in this inn!”

                “If they turn me in it’s on their conscience. If the Templars come to take me to the Circle than I will escape them by taking refuge in the Fade. If they come to kill me, then I will fight them. And if they beat me then I will die. With my tie to the Fade being as strong as it is I know what fate is, Armin. And I’ve no desire to toy with it.” Eren sighed, crossing his arms almost protectively over his chest as his eyelids drooped yet further. “Listen to me; saving lives, helping others, that is what I do. The price I pay for my life, the duty I was charged with by the spirit of Courage when he chose to save me. It’s all I have to live for. I will defend. I will run. But I will not hide. Not from them.”

                “I expected you to answer with as much, but can I at the very least ask that you start refusing jobs that will keep you after dark?” his friend inquired pleadingly. “Eren, if it is a coven of Malificar out there then even with your abilities, exhausted as you are after a job, you would be easy prey for them and I don’t want to think what powers you would have if they were to manage to turn you into an abomination. And if it isn’t the Blood Mages responsible for the carnage recently but something else who knows what it could do.”

                “I will go where they need me when they need me. Blood Mages or something else, I won’t allow it to stop me from doing what I can to help those who need it.” He replied calmly. “I appreciate your concern, I do; you know that you’re a brother to me. But I will not deny my purpose; the Maker himself try to stop me! Now, I think I ought to be going to bed.”

                “Well, if you’re sure that this is for the best then I know that there is nothing I can do to stop you.” The blonde relented, watching as his companion peeled himself off of the wall and trudged up the stairs in exhaustion. _If only there was something I could do to make him be more careful._


	3. Taint

 

                “I’d almost forgotten what it feels like to sleep in a real bed.” His sister yawned, walking across the dining room to meet him as he sat at one of the tables with a half-finished cup of tea in his hand.

                “Well, anything would be better than another night spent sleeping on the hard ass ground.” Levi grumbled taking one more sip of his tea before getting to his feet, armor clanking softly. “Ready to head out? We’d best set about things before it gets hot out.”

                “Good point.” Forgoing any thoughts of breakfast, the pair left the Blue Chalice and set off down the road side. The sun had only just begun to rise and there was only a thin band of grey in the sky, but despite the early hour the streets of the little village were surprisingly full; it seemed that everyone was taking advantage of the cooler morning temperatures while they could, from the first members of the annual merchant migration reaching Ferelden from the other side of the Orlisian sands to the farmers out tending their fields. “I’ve done a bit of homework on this village and it doesn’t seem that there is much in the way of abandoned buildings that the Maleficar could use to practice their magics unseen. Though there have been strange goings on around here recently none of them are centered in the market areas, but rather on the outskirts of town.”

                “So the bastards are squatting in the forest, then?” she nodded. “Are we just going to waste time turning over rocks like a pair of morons or do you have anything recent that we can go off of?”

                His sister smirked at him in response and rolled her eyes; though undeniably used to it by now it never ceased to amaze her how ridiculously and painfully forward her twin could be at times. “I do, actually. There is a farmer on the outskirts of the village who has been having his cattle killed by something in the night. He isn’t sure what is doing it, but it doesn’t seem to be an animal.”

                “To the fields, then.” It took them about twenty minutes to reach the farm in question, the rutted roads packed hard and air blessedly free from dust for once with how wetted down with morning dew everything was. They little building came into view not long after they began to smell the pungent odor of sweet hey and cows, sitting just off of the path with a pasture behind it stretching all the way to the thick forest half a mile away.

                “The farmer should be expecting us,” Mikasa informed her brother, leaving the road behind to have him only reluctantly fall into step behind her in the muddy grass. Luckily for Levi the walk to the porch was fairly short, allowing him to skate by for the moment without getting too much mud onto his shoes. The sound of his sister’s knock barely had time to permeate the house before the door was ripped open by the farmer who had filed the complaint, an extremely wiry man in a droopy straw hat and ragged thread bare clothing the entirely of who’s body hair seemed to have taken up residence on his face in the form of a beard.

                “Oh thank the Maker you’ve arrived! The bastards took another of my cows last night; I discovered it earlier this morning.” The man exclaimed loudly, pushing passed them and leaping off his porch in his haste to escort the pair in the correct direction. Much to the raven haired male’s distaste he was forced to take another much longer trek through the sodden pasture out to where a murdered cow had been left to rot in a sizable puddle of mud and gore.

                “Can you tell us anything of what’s been going on here?” Mikasa asked the farmer gently as Levi picked his way across the grass to crouch down beside the butchered beast. Something had certainly attacked it, but it was immediately clear from the nicks on the bones and the clean cuts that the wounds hadn’t been inflicted by the claws of a wolf or coyote, or even a bear. He lowered one hand into the tall grass to push himself back up to his feet only to recoil instantly with a soft hiss of pain as something sharp wedged itself into the chink in his left gauntlet and stabbed him in the hand.

                “W-well, I have been hearing strange noises outside at night but I dare not venture out to see what is making them my good lady. And I do remember a sighting that I had a few days back when I was out in the forest cutting fire wood; I caught a glimpse of some strange little grey skinned men through the trees, though I doubt they saw me.”

                “Well, whatever those ‘strange little grey men’ were they weren’t human,” Levi said, picking up the object responsible for sticking him and rising to his feet. “Have you ever seen a weapon of this make Mikasa, because I certainly haven’t.” It was a dagger, crudely made and seemingly carved out of a single piece of what appeared to be bone; the ragged blade was strangely shaped and covered in some sort of dark green fluid.

                “Maker’s breath,” she muttered quietly, leaving the farmer standing there to better examine the evil looking blade herself. “I’ve never seen such a thing either but it doesn’t resemble any craft of human hands. Even the work of the Wildermen.”

                “Not to mention that the Wildermen haven’t been seen this side of the Krasari in years.” He pulled a cloth from his pack and wrapped the dripping dagger in it before placing the entire thing inside. “Something tells me that we aren’t dealing with Blood Mages after all.”

                “If that’s the case then what the hell _are_ we dealing with?”

He wished that he could tell her differently but the reality of the matter was that he didn’t have any other answer to give. “I don’t know either,” he admitted. “But we’re sure as hell going to find out; let’s check out the forest and see what we can flush out. You,” his grey eyes fell like stones onto the nervous man, “would you be willing to show us to where you first saw the grey skinned creatures that you described.”

“Just to that spot and no further in?”

Levi nodded. “Just to that spot. With how dangerous it is, we wouldn’t ask that you proceed any further with us.”

                “Very well,” he agreed after a moment’s further reluctance. “Follow me.” The hesitant farmer lead them across the remainder of the field and into the tree line a ways before stopping at a small clearing just within sight of the house. “I was standing right here, chopping wood, and saw three of the things walking by just off over there.” He pointed to a small stream about 20 yards away. “May I go now? I’ve a lot of work to do.”

                “You, you may go. Thank you for your assistance.” The siblings watched the farmer hightail it out of the forest in silence. Once he was gone, Levi turned to his sister with a deadly serious expression on his face. “We watch each other’s backs in there, you hear me? Now more than we ever do.”

                “You’re my twin brother, Levi, and all that I have left. Do you really think that I’ll allow anything to happen to you if there’s something that I can do to stop it?”

                “Of course not, but we still need to take extra precautions. We have no idea what those things are or how many of them we’re dealing with.” She rolled her eyes at him but nodded and the pair continued forwards towards the stream. Nothing looked out of the ordinary to either of them at first glance; it was just a peaceful stream bed, a pebble strewn beach leading down to shallow crystal clear water trickling quietly down towards the ocean.

                “Levi!” Catching sight of something of interest she quickly called him over. “Look.” Etched into the silt at the water’s edge were foot prints.

                “These seem to have been made by an armored boot, much like ours, but in a smaller size; whatever left these is probably about 4 feet tall maximum.” He noted, examining the trail carefully. “They’re recent; a few hours old at most. Whatever left them here is probably still nearby.”

                “So we follow them, then?”

                He nodded. “They’re the best lead that we have at the moment, so we follow them.”

                The dew from the night before and shade provided by the canopy of the trees was enough to leave the ground moist enough to allow the trail of foot prints to persist even after they diverged from the water’s edge. The forest grew deeper as they walked, the day becoming hotter as time wore on and yet despite the summer heat and the sweat coating his body Levi felt cold as ice, his vision suddenly going hazy as the chirping of birds and insects and the rustle of the wind through the trees blurred into one indistinguishable keening sound and he pitched forwards, stumbling before catching himself against the trunk of a tree.

                “Levi!” Mikasa yelped, immediately darting forward to help him down into a sitting position. “Brother, what’s wrong? Are you alright?”

                His head was spinning. He couldn’t get his thoughts together into anything that even remotely made sense. Why was it suddenly so hard to breathe? “Y-Yes. I’m fine. The heat is simply getting to me I suppose.”

                “Let’s take a break for a while then.” All he could do was nod to her suggestion as she opened her bag and pulled out a canteen of water before brushing his sweaty bangs out of his face. “Here, drink some of this; you look like you’re about to pass out.” He took it from her, still rendered speechless by whatever malady had seen fit to suddenly afflict him holding it in his non-dominant hand to avoid further aggravating the injury which already pained him; tendrils of white hot agony were already beginning to spread up his arm. “I brought some of the left over bread and cheese from last night. Having something in your stomach might help the vertigo pass faster.” Once again the mentioned items were pulled out quickly and pressed into his hands. “Here, brother.” Levi resigned himself to nibbling on the food under her gaze as he waited for the nausea to pass and the world around him to finally stop spinning. Twenty minutes and a handful of drinks of blessedly cold water later his breathing had evened out and the violent pitching of the world around him had calmed enough for him to stand. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to rest a little while longer?” she asked him worriedly, but he waved her off.

                “No, I am better now thank you. And we still have a job to do. Let us not forget that we were sent to protect the people of the village from whatever the shitting hell this menace actually is.” He was still sweating bullets and felt on the verge of hurling into the bushes but was determined to brush it off and continue onwards.

                “If you’re sure that you’re better.” Mikasa didn’t seem convinced but knew her brother well enough to realize that arguing with him was often futile so she stayed silent on the matter. They continued walking a while longer until, when the sun was at its highest point in the sky, the pair came to a clearing only to have the footsteps abruptly end. “What now? The trail is-!” But the sight of her brother’s hand raised to silence her stopped her cold. Levi stood frozen a few feet away from her, eyes darting warily around as if searching for signs of danger, and a moment later it dawned on her why. The forest around them had gone completely and utterly silent; there was a predator nearby. A wind blew, carrying with it the horrible stench of rotting diseased flesh just as the ground beneath her feet began to shake, the trees before her swaying violently left and right before falling uprooted to the ground as something gigantic barreled through them.

                _“Move, Mikasa!”_ Levi tackled her out of the way and they both fell to the ground just as the enormous shape came charging out of the trees, titanic head bowed forwards with its goring horns flashing in the light. The creature stood at at least 12 feet tall with purplish-grey skin covered in leaking sores and limbs as thick as the trunk of a tree. Its face was long and flat and lighter in color than the rest of it, eyes beady black and unforgiving. Yellowish drool flew from its mouth as it roared in displeasure at not having captured its target, turning back towards them as the pair scrambled back to their feet.

                “ _Levi!”_ His sister shrieked, wide eyed and in terror as the monster started towards them again. “ _What is that thing?_ ”             

                “Ogre!” He heard it a split second before it leapt from the trees behind them with a piercing scream, whirling around and whipping out his sword in time to slice it in half before it could reach them only to have the displeasure of seeing more of the things-malformed, thin, with ghoul-like faces and long taloned fingers-flocking in the branches like fucked up birds. “ _Darkspawn!_ ” He bellowed, pushing her back in the direction they had come. “ _Run!!!”_ Even with the training that they had that was all that they could do. They were Templars, not Grey Wardens; Darkspawn was a word he’d never expected to have the misfortune of having to use in his entire life. And even if they had been Wardens they couldn’t have stood their ground. The Ogre alone would have been a challenge to even the most gifted of the secretive order of warriors, and accompanied by that number of Shrieks fighting it would have been suicide. Chattering and screaming filled the air around them as the Shrieks gave chase through the branches, leaping for them with gnashing teeth and scything claws. He did his best to intervene each time, to defend his sister, without slowing his pace but holding on to the zwei-hander sword was like holding his wounded hand in a fire, and the harder that his pounding heart beat the further the pain of the wound spread until its searing fingers blazed across his chest and with dawning horror he realized what it was; not heat exhaustion, not heat exhaustion. He’d cut himself on a Darkspawn’s dagger. Gotten Darkspawn blood into the wound; an infinite amount but enough. And that meant that there was no hope. Turning around to face the oncoming hoard, he slid into a fighting stance and prepared to hold his ground. “ _Don’t stop! Keep running; I’ll hold them off!”_

                “But brother!”

                “I have the Taint, Mikasa! I’d rather die in battle than become one of them!”

                “I’m not leaving you; we’ll fight together!”

                “No! The village needs someone to protect them in case they keep going after I fall! _By the Maker’s mercy **go**!!!”_ The Shrieks exploded from the trees, assaulting him in twos and threes. His wound screamed in protest to the continued usage of his arm but he ignored it, cleaving heads from shoulders and limbs from bodies and feeling claws and fangs dent his armor and rend into the flesh below. Blood, both scarlet and black, spattered onto the grass of the clearing which was rapidly becoming trampled. His vision was blurring again, time seeming to slow as his movements became slower and more labored. The ground trembled beneath the footsteps of the monstrosity as it again emerged from the trees, eyes fixating on his instantly as his legs finally gave out and it collapsed. The Shrieks closed in but did little more than loom above him in a wall of hissing and teeth as the Ogre drew forward, its thick fingers winding none-too-gently around his now limp body and lifting him off the ground. So this was how it would end? Draped like a ragdoll across clenched fist of a monster from the deep roads the smelled of rotting flesh? He could only hope that it would end quickly. That it would crush him in its fist or bite of his head instead of stepping on him of smashing him against the earth until his body broke. Or, worse, that it didn’t kill him at all but dragged him back to the dark roads to turn. A cloud of hot, fetid air was expelled into his face making him gag as the disgusting hot drool slithered across his cheek. Its teeth were huge, blunt in places and sharp in others and completely covered in layers of green filth. _Maker, keep me._ He squeezed his eyes shut and prepared for death.

                An explosion detonated without warning a ball of fire descended from the otherwise cloudless sky, the force of the impact sending the ogre reeling and flinging him from its deadly grasp; his body flew through the air and smashed down hair almost 30 yards away against the trunk of a tree. Wounded and bleeding badly, the beast roared again before turning tail and fleeing into the trees along with its much frailer minions leaving only the smell of burned flesh blood and a familiar brimstone-like smell that he couldn’t quite pinpoint hanging in the air. What had happened? Where had that fire come from? Running footsteps drew towards him and a shadow fell across his body; forcing his eyes open he saw a golden wolf standing over him before it blurred sickeningly and forced them closed again. The second time he opened them the wolf had been replaced by the familiar face of the boy from the inn. “Y-You!” He coughed with great difficulty. “You’re a mage. An apostate.”

                A calloused but gentle hand came to rest on his brow, pushing back the raven tresses that fell into his face. “You’re badly wounded, Levi. Don’t speak. I’m a healer; I can help you.”

                “Only…grey wardens…can help me. The Taint…kill me… before I turn.”

                “Nothing in this world aside from the Warden’s order can help you now, that is true. You’re right; I cannot help you. But An’owyn can.” He was talking nonsense; had to be. Half of what was coming out of the boy’s mouth he couldn’t even understand. As the thin teen pulled him to his feet and draped one arm over his shoulders to help him the rest of the way back towards the village he finally lost consciousness and everything went black.

 

                In a total panic Mikasa had gotten herself lost in the woods and only after three hours of aimless wandering had finally managed to find her way back to the village and make her way to the inn. She was met by the blonde haired grandson of the owner almost immediately on coming through the door.

                “Your brother is upstairs; Eren is with him.”

                Levi had survived? He’d come back, knowing he had the taint? He’d gotten back before her? Unable to fully process the implications of what he’d said, she ran up the stairs and busted down the closed door to her twin’s room. Her brother was lying on his back on top of the covers of his bed, bare chested and covered in wounds surrounded by a halo of pale bluish-green light emanating from the spread hands of the brunet who stood over him. Coming to the horrified realization of what was going on, she immediately drew her sword and leveled the blade at his throat.

                “Maleficar bastard! Step _away_ from him!”

                “If you want your brother to live, Human, you will not interfere.” The voice was dual toned, slightly metallic and sent a chill through her blood which was only intensified by the eyes-no longer green but gold and black-opened and fell on her in a rather merciless gaze. “Even now the Taint in his blood rages against me; I can excise it but it will take my total concentration and I will not stand for your distraction!” Seconds later the unfamiliar voice returned to Eren’s usual one. “An’owyn, that isn’t necessary. He’s her only family, she’s in shock.” Again whatever was possessing him took control to speak. “Regardless, it’s distracting! Leave the room until I’ve finished, you may do as you wish in retaliation once the man is stable though I warn you my host is not as fragile as he looks.” Leave her brother alone in the room with a demon-possessed mage-going against all rules and protocol of the order-or remain against its wishes and risk that it allow him to die in retaliation. Coming to a decision after a few moments longer, she reluctantly left the room but remained outside of the door waiting until a loud thud was heard from the other side. Opening it again she was met with the sight of the brunet lying nearly unconscious on the floor and her brother, delirious but alive, trying to sit up in bed.

                “Ugh. My head.” He moaned, doubling over to holding his head in his hands as he struggled to get his bearings. “Where am I? What happened? The Darkspawn-.”

                “Still out there,” his voice was small and barely audible from where he lay fighting against the grip of exhaustion. “But you’ll be fine. The Taint…it was sent into the Fade. Dissipated into the beyond. You’re going to be fine.”

                “Well, you won’t be!” Mikasa hissed mutinously at him, stalking across the room to again replace her blade at his shoulder. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t cut you down here, blood mage! And don’t even try to protest; I’ve seen your Demon!”

                “Mikasa, don’t!” In his haste to get up he tripped and stumbled, but managed to maintain his balance and grab her wrist to stop her. “We can’t kill him!”

                “And why not? He’s a monster! Could become an abomination at any time! Don’t tell me you’ve suddenly become so addled that you think a Blood Mage can be rehabilitated!”

                “I don’t, of course not! But I don’t believe he is a Maleficar!”

                “Of _course_ he is! I’ve seen his Demon!”

                “And I’ve met it; it’s not a Demon! He’s a Spirit Healer!”

                “How can you be sure? You were unconscious, vulnerable, and it was working its influence on you!”

                “Are you suggesting I don’t know what I’m talking about?”

                _“Maybe I am!!!”_ For a long moment after that the twins stared each other down, glaring in mutual anger before the younger of the two finally backed down. “Fine! Even if he’s not a Blood Mage, which I don’t believe, he’s still an Apostate! What are we going to do with him?”

                “Exactly what the Chantry’s protocol calls for,” he growled at her. “Go and get the lyrium shackles. We’re taking him to the Circle!”


	4. Voices

 

                “Take him to the Circle? The closest outpost is the White Spire, and that’s all the way in Orlais!”

                He nodded, expression not wavering an inch. “It would only be a fort night of travel on horseback, a horse being something which is easily attained in this town-it would seem-for fairly cheap. I’ve an assignment to attend to as honor guard to the Divine in Val Royeaux anyway.”

                “What about warning someone about what we’ve gone through?” his sister all but shrieked at him. “There’s a Chantry building in the next town over; we could make it there tonight!”

                “We could, but I cannot delay my assignment by setting off in the opposite direction any more than we can take this apostate,” the venom behind the word was palpable as he shot Eren’s still crumpled and near unconscious form a glare, “with us. So we have three choices.”

                “And what would those be?”

                “1) I take this apostate filth with me and head to Orlais alone while you ride to warn the Chantry of the Darkspawn threat; 2) we both ride to Orlais to better watch this Fade-touched criminal but delay our report on the Darkspawn threat; 3) we both head to the nearest Chantry building to warn them of the Darkspawn threat, consequently leaving this apostate here alone full well knowing that he won’t be hear when we get back.” Her brother informed her flatly. “You choose; I will not be held responsible for any consiquences that arise from failing to take this devil in later.”

                “Don’t be stupid enough to think I’d choose option three if that is really how it’s going to be, brother!” His sister snapped back at him. “Are you sure that you can handle him on your own? I know that you’re strong, the strongest that we have, but we’ve both just seen this Mage do something said to be impossible. And we both know that he’s possessed by something, even if it isn’t a Demon.”

                Levi rolled his eyes in response. “All in our order have the ability to interupt the flow of a mage’s mana, but you’re aware by now-or should be-that I am able to shut it down completely if need be: if he ever wants to cast a spell again he won’t resist.”

                “You’re sure about this?”

                He nodded again. “Completely. Now go and grab the shackles! I’ll make sure that he doesn’t run off while you’re out getting those horses for us.” She seemed reluctant but in the end did as he asked, fetching the shackles forged from a shimmering blue alloy before walking out of the room. Though his own strength was only barely recovered the raven gathered up the curled form and hoisted it onto the bed before chaining him. Another few minutes passed before the green eyes fluttered open again, his breathing quick and shallow and sweat coating his form. “You don’t look so good, Apostate brat.”

                “Armin.” His voice was weak and broken, the alarming pallor of his face increasing even more.

                “No, I’m not your little friend Mage Shithead!” Out of habit his hand fell to where the hilt of his sword would have been had he still worn it as he advanced towards the shaking form lying on the bed. “Are your hallucinating or something?”

                “No…get him…please!” His lips were turning blue now, the trembling getting worse. Not entirely sure what was happening but becoming concerned, Levi quickly left the room as well in search of the brunet’s friend in hopes that he would know what the hell was going on. Thankfully, though he was by no means a healer he could tell that something was definitely badly wrong with the brat and was able to find the blonde in the kitchen in a fairly short amount of time.

                “O-oh, you’re…I think he said that your name was Levi?” the blonde mushroom squealed. “You’re alright?”

                “Relatively, but your friend is turning blue. I was told to get you.” Immediately the blonde jumped into action, wide eyed with worry as he yanked open and cabinet and tore through the contents tossing bottles of spices every which way until finally stumbling on what he was looking for and wrenching it from the depths; a glass flask filled with a glowing blue liquid which he recognized immediately. “A Lyrium potion? How the hell did you get your hands on that? That trade is regulated by the Chantry!”

                “How we got it isn’t important; Eren used too much energy to heal you of the taint! Take this up and make him drink it. If his mana levels aren’t restored to something at least semi-stable he’ll die!” The blonde all but threw the bottle at him before attempting to force him up the stairs. During his absence the brunet’s condition had neither worsened nor improved.

                “I got the potion, brat.” He growled as the other pushed passed him into the room.

                “Eren!” The blonde quipped at him. “I knew that something like this would happen eventually! I warned you to take precautions; that you couldn’t be reckless! Not to be stubborn! But you wouldn’t listen to me!” Ignoring his outburst the Templar advanced to the unoccupied side of the bed and waited while the brunet failed in his weak attempts to prop himself upright, ultimately leading to the impatient raven yanking him forwards by his cuffed wrists. “Why do you have him handcuffed like some monster! He’s a Spirit Healer not a Blood Mage! You ought to know that first hand, especially considering where you’d be if it weren’t for him!”

                “Oh, shut up mushroom!” He snapped, grabbing a rough hold of the listing teen’s jaw and forcing it open long enough to pour to potion down his throat. “I know he’s not a Blood Mage but I witness him flambé an Ogre and I’d really rather not end up extra crispy in the event he decides to try and escape! Those stay on until we reach the White Spire.”

                “You’re taking him to Orlais? Why not keep him in Ferelden; this is the country where he was born! He doesn’t know anyone outside of this country!”

                Levi snorted, setting the now empty flask aside as the boy fell backwards against the pillows; he was still far from recovered but some color had returned to his face. “You just don’t get it, do you mushroom?” he sneered. “It doesn’t matter whether or not he knows anyone or not. He’s going to the White Spire, and outpost of the Circle. He’ll live there, locked in, for the rest of his life. He’ll never see anyone he knows now again either way, so it really makes no difference.”

                Armin appeared more than furious at the thought, but even so evidently angry as he was he was still the furthest possible thing from intimidating to the veteran Templar. “Your Order claims that it exists to protect Mages! How is locking them in towers doing that?”

                “We do protect them. From others and from themselves. To be born with magic is to be born with a curse set upon you by the Maker himself. They are, by nature, inherently evil; it is inevitable that without watch they will all be reduced to the servants of Demons.”

                “Curse of the Maker?” the blonde repeated, eyes narrowing. “Does not the Maker have mercy on his children? Is that not the message that your masters send, dog of the Chantry?”

                “The mercy that the Maker would extend occurs only after one has been called through the Fade to his side.” The raven replied coldly, though with a measure of sadness tinging his voice. “In life, there is no mercy. Your friend has committed a crime by existing and must be dually punished. It may not be right. It may not be fair. But it isn’t my place to decide that and there’s nothing I can do to change that. As you so aptly said, I am a dog of the Chantry and I enforce my master’s will. I have no more choice in this matter than he does.”

                The other’s blue orbs were still icy and accusing, though they seemed to have softened somewhat. “Don’t you ever yearn to be free? If you do or ever have even for the most fleeting moment, how can you justify stripping him of his freedom?”

                “I’m stripping him of nothing; he’s never been free and never will be, brat! And that is what you fail to understand, even so educated as you appear to be!” Grey-blue eyes shifted reluctantly back to the bottle sitting on the bedside table as if drawn by the dregs of the substance inside. “Neither will I. Nor will any of us. Because to be a Templar is to be chained in slavery just as tightly as the Mages are.”

                “Levi, I’ve got the horses.” Mikasa stepped into the room without fanfare, her stone cold eyes scanning the room with a far more business like demeanor than usual. “Three of them; two for us and one for…him.”

                “You should head out today, Mikasa. The others need to be warned of the potential threat: ask that they inform the Wardens of the situation.” Levi told her, tearing his eyes away from the empty bottle with a mixture of reluctance and relief. “I’ll remain here a few more days; our captive seems to be in fairly dire states and isn’t up for travel.”

                “When will you set out for Val Royeaux? She asked her twin as she went to retrieve her bag.

                “The moment that he is well enough; the end of the week, most likely.” He replied after a moment. “I’ll spend the time that he’s recovering resupplying and resting. I myself am fairly weak from today’s…” he glanced furtively down at his now healed hand, able to envision the dark stain that had outlined his veins just a handful of hours prior, “incident.”

                “Good luck then, brother. Send word once you reach your destination.”

                He nodded. “I will, though you really shouldn’t worry. Farlan will be my partner, not to mention that dealing with a room full of nobles is far from difficult.”

                “One never knows.”

                “I suppose that’s true.” He allowed after a moment. “Ride with the wind at your back.” Once she was gone he turned to the blonde; all of the fight seemed to have gone out of him, replaced by resignation against what the other’s fate would ultimately be. “I’m sure he’d like to eat if and when he wakes up tonight.”

                “O-Oh, of course.” The other mumbled softly, turning to stiffly shuffle out of the room. “I’ll send up a meal for you as well.”

                Once the door had closed and he was alone, the raven pulled up a chair to the bedside and sat down. For a long time he just sat there, staring down at the sleeping face of the young mage lying beneath the sheets. The carelessly tousled hair, the delicately crafted features, the smooth skin. So young, and yet with the weight of so much already loaded down atop his shoulders. So much that was inescapable, a mantle of slavery amidst their society ruled by the Chantry as it was. ‘The duty of a Templar is to protect the public from the Mages and the Mages from themselves’ they said. Yeah, right. ‘We want to protect them, not hurt them.’ But they were. He couldn’t count the number of times that he had watched in silence as others in the order, his superiors as well as those below him, had had the mages they’d been charged with watching over tortured and even killed. That he himself had turned a blind eye to it all, justifying it all time and time again with empty words and false accusations until even he himself believed in the truth within them which simply wasn’t there. Captives. Prisoners. That was really what they were. And his own order? They were worse than any Blood Mage could ever be; addicts, all of them, hooked on Lyrium from their first day in training. And much to the contrary of what the general public thought Templars were the furthest thing from bastions of virtue, because the stark truth of matters was that their masters would much rather have hateful murderous wretches who would follow orders than a man of morality who would do what was ‘right’. Because morals, by default, would question whether what they were told to do was truly for the best. _Why is it always the same? That those who acclaim themselves as the most devout, the most observant, the ‘chosen’ even, are always the ones bound to burn for eternity in a pit of flames?_ He wondered, looking down at one of his hands turned palm up against his half-assembled armor. _Maker help us all._ Darkness. That was what he remembered most about his experience after losing consciousness on the forest floor. The agony of it as it crawled through his veins and clawed at his mind, his sanity slipping away with a scream as a blood lust the like of which he’d never known and the desire to scratch, to claw at the earth until he found the deep forgotten places of the world where _they_ were sleeping overcame him. But then it had come, the spirit that had saved him, the being surly touched by the Maker himself. Graceful in the form of a massive wolf, its deadly claws had shredded those shadows like a sword through wet paper, its light reaching out to envelope his body soothing his torment and all the while piercing into his very soul where it lodged and still remained. No Demon could do such a thing; whatever his sister had to say to the contrary, he knew that what had saved him was in fact a spirit of the Fade and a powerful one at that. An ethereal thing which had chosen to bind itself to the slumbering form before him, the boy who somehow didn’t resent the world despite the awful hand that he’d been dealt. A child, a Mage, possessed of more morals and integrity than every member of the order and Chantry combined. And he would be handing him over as Mefrath had Andreste. _Maker forgive me, but I don’t have a choice._

Contrary to his predictions and likely due in part to the boy’s connection to the spirit, Eren was up and walking within three days and so it was on the forth morning after he’d been captured that the pair advanced out of the inn onto the street where their horses waited to be met with the sight of a gathered crowd of very angry villagers.

                “There he is! The Templar bastard who’s trying to take our healer away!”

                “Well, we ain’t gonna let him!”

                “Most of us can’t afford a doctor! If he’s taken from this village our children will die!”

                “Get on the damn horse, brat!” Levi grunted, pushing the captive teen forwards. “We’re getting out of here!” He swung easily up onto the saddle but his handcuffed companion had a bit of difficulty following suit.

                “You’re not going anywhere!” Another voice shouted. “Not unless you plan to run us over!”

                “Please, don’t do this! You’re just making consequences for yourselves by getting involved in my plight!” Eren called out to them. “I have devoted my life to faith and fate and it would seem that this is what the Maker wills for me. Someone else will come to help you, you must believe that. But resisting him on my behalf helps nothing and only delays the inevitable. Please, let us pass.”

                From how furious the crowd had seemed Levi had expected that the brunet’s pleas would fall on deaf ears. But much to his surprise, though still clearly irate, the wall of people parted before them to allow the pair to pass. It wasn’t long before the village was far behind them, the path now the only thing ahead. From time to time they would come across the occasional merchant’s caravan but there was no one else on the road and all the while both travelers were sure to keep a wary eye on the dark forest beside them well aware of what horrors lurked inside. They took only a few breaks to rest in the shade or pass around a canteen of water and didn’t say a word until that night once they’d made camp. Eren was sitting with his cuffed hands resting in his lap and Levi was getting tired of the silence.

                “So you’re not going to talk to me, brat?” he finally quipped, causing the green eyes to swivel upwards.

                “I have no problem with speaking to you, Levi, but your position on Mages of any kind has been made quite clear; you haven’t spoken a word to me aside from to give orders and as such I didn’t think it would be best to say anything to you.”

                “And if I were to ask you questions now?”

                He smiled, a flash of perfect white teeth in the darkness. “I’d gladly answer them.”

                “All of them?” he sounded doubtful.

                “All that I can.”

                “Even if they are about you?”

                “I have nothing to hide and by this point nothing is personal.” Eren replied. “Besides, I doubt that anything I could say now would change your opinion of me for better or worse.”

                That wasn’t exactly true. “What are you? Beyond a Mage.”

                “Beyond a Mage?” he repeated, cocking his head to one side slightly. “What an odd question for someone to ask, especially a Templar. I’m not quite sure how you’re expecting me to answer that one.”

                “What…type of Mage are you, I suppose.”

                “A Spirit Healer, though as you’ve experienced my abilities first hand that much ought to be obvious by now. On top of that, my elemental magic is quite powerful.” He mused. “Though I suppose that the answer you’re really looking for is this: I’m a Dreamer.”

                “A what?” he’d never heard that term before.

                “A Dream, that is what they call those who possess my gift. It is a rare one, allowing me to draw more power from the Fade than any other Mage and to be able to traverse it at will without the use of sleep or a ritual. As a matter of fact, if it weren’t for your shackles holding me in place, I’d already have escaped into the Fade.”

                “Your Spirit?”

                “An’owyn.”

                “That’s its name?”

                “His.”

                “So your Spirit is male?”

                He nodded. “Yes; they have genders just as we do.”

                “I don’t know much about Spirits, as the Chantry teaches little of the Fade’s benevolent denizens, but I do know that like how Demons embody human sin they embody human virtue.”

                “An’owyn is the Spirit of Courage.” Eren told him. “I met him five years ago while I was fleeing through the Fade to escape my parent’s murderers; I found myself cornered by a Pride Demon and I’d have been turned into an abomination is it hadn’t been for his intervention. He killed the Demon and saved my life, and so I’ve devoted myself ever since to using the additional powers that his presence grants me to the betterment of others so that I might begin to repay a portion of that debt.”

                “Selflessness isn’t a quality that most would attribute to Mages. Or teenagers, for that matter.” Levi groused.

                “I suppose that you could make the argument that it has more to do with a compulsion associated with the Spirit’s presence rather than a trait of my own personality but I prefer to think that I’m a good person.”

                “I’m sure you are.” An offhand comment made in an utterly toneless voice. “You talk about the Fade as if it were some wondrous vacation local rather than a twisted perversion of reality.”

                “The Fade is a beautiful place, Levi!” The teen practically purred, his whole face lighting up at the thought. “Sure, the Raw Fade takes a little getting used to but there are portions of it that are unbelievable! On top of that the Fade is a realm of insubstantials; as long as you can imagine it, anything is possible.” The light went out of his eyes all at once as his expression fell. “But I’ll never see the Fade again, will I? You won’t let me, because doing so would be allowing me to escape.”

                “Healer or not and desire to help others aside, you’re still a monster Eren.” They didn’t speak at all after that, and for the remainder of the journey the brunet refused to meet his eyes. By the time the White Spire finally came to rise before them out of the desert he was near to the point where he thought the silence might make his head explode. Dismounting his horse and stumbling slightly on stiffened legs, he pulled the brat out of the saddle and dragged him into the tower’s dark interior the moment that the door had opened.

                “Ser Levi!”          

                “Is that really him? What’s he doing transporting a prisoner to the White Spire? I thought that the event he was attending wasn’t for another few days.”

                “Does it matter why he’s here? We should count ourselves lucky to see him; the man is a legend!”

                _Gossiping bastards._ He thought crossly, tossing the surprised teen into the arms of the guard nearest to his displeasure. “Take this Mage-brat down into a containment cell. Do _not_ under any circumstances release him from those shackles, am I understood?”

                “Yes, Sir!” One of them answered; Levi forced down the sharp twinge of guilt he felt at the sight of the betrayal filling the beautiful eyes as Eren was dragged away into the darkness of the Spire’s many leveled dungeon. Once he was gone Levi turned his attention to the leader of the Templars stationed at the White Spire and spoke quickly in hushed tones.

                “You can infer the reason why, I would gather, when I request that you arrange for the brat the soonest possible transport to Kirkwall?”

                “Of course, Sir. It will take about a week, and that’s having everything expedited, before we’ll be able to ship him off. You want him kept down in the cells until then?”

                He nodded. “That would be best.”

                “Might I ask why you think it necessary to send him to them? He’s not even been here long enough to be introduced to the others, let alone fail a Harrowing.”

                “It’s a shame, it really is, because he’s a potent healer but he’s also a Dreamer and sending him off is the only way we’ll be able to fulfill our order’s oath to keep all Mages under lock and key.” It was with a measure of sadness weighing down on his shoulders that Levi turned to make his way back out of the doors with a final comment, “the only way that we’ll be able to keep Eren Yeager in our custody is to make him Tranquil.”


	5. The Masked Ball

 

                _The inside of the Chantry building was dim and quiet, filled with the familiar smell of candle and incense smoke. The building was deserted aside from him, the staircase directly before where he stood rising up through swirling motes of dust and low light to the second floor; he had no recollection of how he’d gotten there nor any reason why he’d be in such a place when he was better served in the field especially in times as dark as these but with nothing else to do Levi gave in to the temptation and ascended the stairs. The second floor wasn’t that much different than the one below it, dusty and empty aside from a faded rug stretching down the hall, a small alcove filled with old tomes and a familiar robe clad figure standing before them with their dark hair as messy as ever._

_“Eren.” He wasn’t quite sure what compelled him to call out to the other the way that he did, and when the brunet turned he answered in kind._

_“Levi.” His voice was toneless and flat. The robes that he wore, like his expression, were as blank as fresh parchment and green eyes dull without the play of emotion and flashes of fire that had once been there. No more of the gentle smile or the offense at being called a monster or the anger at the mention of a Blood Mage. There was nothing inside of those eyes at all but a void left in the place of the soul that had been ripped out along with his magic, leaving behind as evidence the Chantry starburst branded on his forehead. A shadow fell across him from the other end of the hallway, the dark figure of a monstrous wolf advancing towards him like the specter of death as a feral growling rang in his ears as he reeled backwards and pain consumed his body, exploding outwards from his chest like a sword through the heart._

Tumbling out of bed and slamming into the wooden floor of the inn with a heavy thunk, the Templar floundered for a moment before tearing the thin fabric of his nightshirt into shreds in a desperate search for the source of the pain. The burning was so intense that he was sure that the taint had somehow resurfaced or that he’d see blood, hot and dark crimson, gushing out from some enormous hole but looking down at himself revealed nothing but the sight of his own smooth pale skin. No marks aside from the scars that had always been there. His chest heaved as the nightmare slowly subsided and the flames of pain died down, but he continued to stare at himself frozen in shock and that was how Farlan, attracted by the sound of his fall, found him.

                “You ok, there?” he startled slightly, for a moment staring at the other in minor terror before composing himself enough to get to his feet.

                “Of course,” but he sounded almost breathless when he spoke, “just a nightmare. That Mage was Spirittouched and I think I made it angry by tossing him in the White Spire’s clink.”

                “But you’re ok?”

                The shorter raven cast his friend a baleful glare. “I survived being attacked by a bunch of Darkspawn, so I think I can handle a 15 year old boy who’s locked up and unable to so much as make a Daisy grow!”

                “If you’re sure.”

                “You sound like my sister; I’m the strongest that the order has and I’m not about to let some wispy Fade-beast control me!” Yanking open the trunk sitting in the corner of the room he began searching through it for clothing for the day.

                “Are you going into town?”

                “I don’t need a babysitter or your shit, Church!”

                “I’m not thinking of imposing when I’m not invited, I’m not _that much_ like your sister.” He snickered. “I’m just here to remind you that you need to be at the ball in five hours.”

                He’d slept that late? “I’m not going to miss my assignment shit head. Reminder noted: go away!” The other rolled his eyes but excused himself, allowing the raven to finish getting dressed and ready for the day. With nothing to do and a number of hours to kill he spent the remainder of the day wandering aimlessly around the city surrounded by a sea of masked faces; disconcerting at first but something he quickly got used to. When darkness finally fell he made his way quickly to the palace where the masked ball was being held, casting a semi reluctant glance over his shoulder at the crystal spire that pierced the heaven’s like an arrow. Inside the palace was nothing but excessive grandeur; the floors and ceilings made of gold, the walls adorned with rubies and enormous diamonds dripping from the chandelier overhead. The attendants to this ball were all nobles and as such the masks they wore were made of precious metal and adorned with gems, feathers and dragon scales. Taking his place beside the enormous chair on the raised platform, he observed his surroundings with his usual bored expression only tearing his eyes away from the pit of serpents once the Divine had arrived in her chair and spoken to him.

                “It was good of you to come to this event, Ser Ackerman. It will do them good to view the most powerful figures of both the Chantry and the Templar from time to time. To remind them.”

                “I am not a leader of the Templar, your Eminence. My power is hardly something that would quail these vipers.”

                “They put on that show, I agree, but they can hardly afford to lose face in front of the others. But you are Humanity’s Strongest, and they fear you as they should.”

                Their conversation ended as his eyes narrowed and she turned back to observe the party going on. More time passed as he continued to watch the nobles beating each other relentlessly with whatever insults and black mail they could get their claws on. His lip curled into a disgusted sneer. _Jackals._

“ _Are you really any better, Templar?”_ he froze at the sound of the voice, skin going cold and ice slithering up his spine. He’d never heard a voice like that before, but from the way its tone rose up around him to ring in the higher realms like brass bells and boomed like thunder from the Fade he thought that he could guess what it was. Turning slowly, part of him dreading what he’d see, he came to face the wolf lying comfortably at the feet of the Divine’s chair like a tamed hound at its master’s feet.

                “An’owyn.” It came out as a strangled sounding choke; the being had come to save him in the darkness but this was the first time that he saw the beast for what it truly was, not a calm and loving presence but the sword of war and the blinding fires of Heaven. The wolf’s body dwarfed the huge chair by a considerable degree, one of its paws enough to crush a man twice his size easily should it wish to. Its fur was soft and thick and seemed to be made of gold, and a searing white light rolled off of it in waves that seemed to bristle angrily as it wrapped around his form. Its huge ears twitched and swiveled, piercing blue eyes narrowing as it observed him a moment further before bearing its sword-blade teeth and scratching furrows in the floor with its great claws.

                _“That is what the Dalish call me. What the boy calls me. Your kind simple calls me Courage; you call upon me for empty causes and meaningless wars but I will not have my name attached to a campaign of thoughtless genocide! I abandoned your precious Chantry centuries ago! Not a single one of you have Courage!”_

“I have plenty of Courage!” He shot back immediately, thoughts going back to facing down the Darkspawn alone in that forest. As if able to sense his thoughts the wolf snorted.

                _“That is Bravery, not Courage. Bravery is a Demon; perhaps the most revered by your kind aside from Pride.”_

His grey eyes narrowed again. “Just how are courage and bravery different.”

                _“Bravery is doing something stupid; being weak enough to succumb to the desire for validation and attention no matter the cost! Bravery is what lost your kind the Maker’s grace! Bravery is what created the first of the Dark Spawn and corrupted the Black City! Courage is the strength to do what is right no matter what society believes, regardless of whether they condemn you or you go without thanks. Courage is what Eren did for you, and this is how you intend to repay him?”_

“I’m a solider!”

                The wolf surged forwards all at once, fangs snapping viscously in his face. “ _YOU’RE A COWARD!”_

                “I can’t do anything for him now.”

                “ _Lies!”_

                “Mages are evil; they have to be locked away for the safety of everyone involved!”

                _“I have seen your heart and read your soul; I know that you do not believe in what the Chantry says, so do not deny that!”_

“You have nothing to hold over me; you are not a Demon and I do not fear you!”

                The wolf growled low in its throat before lying back down and crossing its paws. He thought it defeated, but when he turned back to the part it spoke again. “ _You are right, I am not a Demon, but that means little. The Chantry does not teach this, but Demons were spirits once too. They who became jealous of Humans and so sought to corrupt them. You race was weak; you let them.”_

                “Is there a point to any of this?”

                _“Good does not benevolent make. I have nothing but love for the boy who I rescued because he is pure, but just because he has not seen my wrath does not mean I am without it. Where I told him that the Taint is gone from you, that doesn’t make it true_.” He instantly went stiff as the burning pain returned, a phantom pain spreading up along his arm and over his chest. The wolf laughed. “ _I see I have your attention now_.”

                “What, exactly, are you threatening me with?”

                _“You felt my lingering presence when you woke; a part of my power is embedded in your soul just as it is in Eren and it binds you to him. That bond is the only thing holding the Taint off from consuming you completely. If he is made Tranquil I will shatter that bond, and you will join the Night Gangers as the darkness rises.”_

                “You’d damn me, then?”

                _“You damn yourself! And it isn’t as if there is nothing you can do to stop it. They haven’t left yet and, though it will take more out of you than it would a Mage, I will lend you my power to better aid the boy.”_

“So my choices are help the boy and be stuck as a mage-brat’s guardian for the rest of my life or get turned into a Darkspawn? Not exactly plausible options.”

                “ _I suggest that you decide quickly as he’ll be sent away at dawn. And where it will be a few days before he reaches the city and loses his soul I will not once leave your side to allow you to forget your crimes in your final days un-ruled by the whispers of a false God!”_ Frowning, he turned his head away and fixed his gaze back on the party, ignoring the titanic beast that was all but pressed up against him.

                “Something the matter, Ser Ackerman?” one of the other attendants asked, seeing his distress.

                “Of course not!” He snapped back. “Leave me be!”

                The scratching of paws and the wolf’s heavy panting followed him back through the streets to the inn where he was staying and though it was no longer visible he knew full well that it was there. Collapsing onto the bed in a fitful sleep, his dreams were filled with a cold despair that wasn’t his own.

 

                The cell was dark and extremely cold, the only sounds his own ragged breathing and the far off dripping of water accompanied by the occasional footsteps of a passing guard. How long had he been there? He didn’t know; there were no windows so he couldn’t tell if it was day or night outside and the hours and minutes had long ago blended into a meaningless blur as darkness closed in as a suffocating blanket of silence. How he wished for light, for the spirit to come and pay him company and shed its glow over the small dank cell. At least then he could see the shackles around his wrists and ankles and the rats that came to nibble at his fingers and toes. He could feel the Fade calling to him from just out of reach; soon enough he wouldn’t be able to hear its voice at all. Despair set in and he curled his body around his knees to conserve whatever body heat he had left, brown bangs falling down into his eyes. If it wasn’t for the damnable chill Eren would have thought he’d died in the cell without realizing it. He didn’t know how much later that it was that the hinges shrieked against the carbuncles of rust and armored footsteps clinked into the cell. The light of the torches the Templars held was blinding after being stuck in the shadows for so long, but despite his watering eyes the pride he still had left would not allow him to look away.

                “Come along, Apostate. It’s time for your trip.” One grunted roughly, his nasal voice grating on the brunet’s ears as the other undid the shackles binding him to the walls and dragged him to his feet. “Don’t want to be late and hold up the ship, do you?” He was pushed, hard and square between the shoulder blades, and stumbled forwards with a yelp. “Move it!” It had been a while since he’d walked and his legs were weak and wobbly but he managed to stumble stutteringly ahead of his captors and up the stairs. Thankfully the sun had yet to rise outside; it was just before dawn. Again the question of just how long he’d been locked away in that tower crossed his mind, but before he could even begin to try and answer it he was shoved forwards again and tossed into a cage in the back of a covered horse drawn cart. So this was it, then? His final few hours of being able to feel? A Tranquil? He’d seen them a few times, unemotive, stripped of magic and dressed in white with the Chantry’s mark on their foreheads. He shuddered, lowering his face to his knees and fighting futilely against the tears. Alone and captured without a friend in the world; even the spirit had abandoned him. The sounds of a muted but tense conversation reached his ears along with the sudden shift of gravel beneath feet. “ _Oi, the hell are you doing?!”_ A hoarse shout that swiftly cut off with a wet squelch. That sound. He knew that sound and it made every fiber of his being go cold. It was the sound of a sword in the hands of a skilled warrior ripping through flesh like wet paper, of blood spreading from a fatal wound. The hollow sounding clatter of armor told him that one of the Templars guarding the caravan had fallen, though the covered wagon prevented him from knowing if it was one of the ones who had taken him from his cell. Chaos erupted immediately, the clashing of swords and more shouting and flashing of light; was that magic? He had no way of knowing what was going on, but by the time the final sounds of battle subsided into silence he was terrified. Footsteps drew closer, unaccompanied by the clank of armor and a figure pulled itself up into the back of the cart to face him, figure dark against the early morning and eyes glowing; one gold like the sun and slit pupiled and the other silver like the moon and very much Human. The sword that he held in his hand dripped blood onto the cart’s floor; he flicked it sharply once to get most of it off before breaking the lock and pulling the door open. He entered the cage, crouching down in front of the teen and pulling his bound wrists forward to unlock them as his short black hair fell into his face.

                “L-Levi?” he squeaked, unable to believe his eyes. The Templar didn’t reply to him, instead demanding

                “Are you happy now, you Shitty Spirit?” and was answered with a metallic version of his own voice replying “for now” before the gold returned to grey and the glow vanished from his eyes. “Are you going to stand up or not, Mage brat? They didn’t break your legs, did they?”

                “You…killed your own men.”

                “Not my men.”

                “Your comrades!”

                “Don’t tell me you’re upset; you’re free now, aren’t you?” he demanded impatiently, grabbing his chaffed wrists roughly and pulling him onto his feet when he didn’t move fast enough. “We can’t sit around forever right outside the damn spire, unless you _want_ to get caught!” another rough yank had him spilling out of the back of the cart and onto the street. Now with the weak morning light he could better get a look at Levi. He was now dressed in light leather armor rather than the noisy plate of the Templar, accompanied by a pair of fingerless archer’s gloves and leather riding boots. He slid the zweihander back into its sheathe across his back before carding a hand through his raven tresses and turning to face him again. “I have two horses but I could only bring one here to get you; the other one is tied up nearby. We’ll head over to get it and take a bit of time to go over plans before setting out and riding until evening when we’ll set up camp after putting as much distance as possible between us and here. You’ll ride behind me for now.” Clipped sentences and sharp tones, everything positively oozing authority. Head still spinning Eren complied, allowing the other to pull him up onto the saddle behind him. “Hold on Mage brat, I don’t want to have to turn around because you fell off the back.” His voice was harsh but the dark tones were much preferred over the scratchy voices of the other Templars, even splattered in blood as he was after a violent murder. Eren’s hands were shaking slightly, the warmth of the horse and it’s other rider against his thighs, strong back pressed against his chest. He smelled different than anyone else he’d encountered, not of sweat and dirt but of soap and tea and something dark and earthy that was, he thought, just Levi. This was a Templar, the enemy of all Mages even more than Maleficar were. The man whose life he’d saved and who had arrested him in thanks, tearing him away from all he’d built in five years hard work. The man who had ordered him made Tranquil. Could he trust him? Was going with him really a good idea? He didn’t know the answers to these questions but he did know that staring at the Tower would be far worse than going with him every could be, so he slid his arms around the other man’s waist and buried his face in Levi’s back; a harsh snap of the reigns and a sharp yell and the horse began to run.


	6. Darkness Rising

His footsteps echoed hollowly in the great arched halls of the ancient fortress in the heart of the Anderfels, tucked beneath Broken Tooth’s deep shadow. The crumbling walls were thrown into sharp relief by the torch held high in the grasp of the passing Warden, the faded carvings of griffins in flight a sad reminder of all that was last to the passage of the ages. Weisshaupt was once a great fortress in the height of their order’s power, but it had fallen into disrepair as years went by as all things did; long ago it had housed thousands of Grey Wardens but the grounds were empty now, and eerie, the mausoleum honoring the sacrifice of those who had slain passed Arch Demons falling apart and the barracks home to just over 200 men. But the size of the fortress, of course, had not decreased because of this and as such despite hours of searching he’s as of yet been unable to locate the other man. When he retreated to himself like this it could only mean that something was very wrong indeed but though he knew it was best to leave him alone the news they had just received from the Templar was troubling enough that it required his attention. Finally, in the last possible place to look-a balcony overlooking the grim landscape below-he found him. Erwin, the current First Warden, was a tall man with broad strong shoulders and short blonde hair the sight of whom could put the fear of the Maker in even the strongest Dark Spawn. His eyes appeared intently focused on a dust storm raging across the barren land below them but the other Warden had known him long enough by now to be fully aware that his mind was elsewhere.

                “Commander Erwin.” A moment passed before the taller man turned to face him.

                “Has something happened, Mike?” he asked. “You certainly seem as if something is bothering you.”

                “There has been a report from Southern Ferelden near the border of Orlais; Dark Spawn attack outside of the Deep Roads.” He told him. “If it were only Genlocks and Hurlocks I wouldn’t be bothering you, sir, considering that they do surface from time to time in small groups but it’s more than that! An Ogre Alpha attacked a pair of Templars!”

                A moment of silence followed. “Gather Hanji and the others. We’ll set out to join the Templars and have them show us to this forest.”

                “Of course, Sir. I’ll send word right away; we’ll be ready to leave by morning.”

                “Good, expect that we will.” Mike hurried away to follow his orders and once he was gone the Warden’s Commander turned back to the barren landscape that the forest overlooked. _It’s as I feared. A Blight is coming._

 

                Levi pushed him out of the saddle the moment that they reached the little canyon, and despite the thick layer of sand covering the ground the landing was still quite hard and painful enough to set his eyes watering again.

                “Levi, what the hell!” he demanded, only to have the Templar dismount and immediately get in his face.

                “Let’s get this straight right now, I don’t give a fuck all about whether you’re ‘hurt’ or ‘uncomfortable’! You can freeze your balls off for all that I care, the only thing that matters to me is that you’re alive do you understand?” he snarled. “It’s not as if I’m doing this because I want to!”

                His eyes widened. “What do you mean? Aren’t you ‘Humanity’s Strongest’? Who could put you under duress?”

                “Your fucking spirit, that’s who! He lied to you about the Taint; it’s not gone, just being held off. By him. And if I don’t protect you I’m doomed to becoming a Dark Spawn!”

                As realization hit him his face fell into an expression of guilt. “I didn’t ask for this. I’m sorry.”

                “Shut up, Mage Brat!” He snapped back. “You listen to me, and we’ll both be fine. This may well be the time we take to flesh out the plan.”

                “Your plan.”

                “Do you have one, you little shit?” Eren flinched at the vicious retort but didn’t answer. “I didn’t think so; we’re going to head through the desert again back to the border with Ferelden and then head North along it to the next village up from where you came from as that village is the first place they’ll look when they notice you’re missing. At that point we’ll stop and worry about getting supplies and a map; we’ll  be heading on a zigzagging path up through the Korcari Wilds and hit the cities and towns on our way when we need to resupply, avoiding Denerim for obvious reasons as well as the Anderfells; we don’t want to risk getting the Wardens involved if it’s possible to avoid it.”

                “B-But where are we going?”

                The grey eyes regarded him in cold silence for a moment. “Tevinter. Magic is legal in that country; you’ll be free.”

                “But the Magisters rule the Imperium; they’re _Blood Mages_!”

                “Better a Blood Mage than a Tranquil, aren’t you?” the raven snorted at him. “Sometimes we have to become what we hate in order to survive; just look at me now.” Another flinch at the cutting words. “This is how things will work from now on; I’m in control and you do as I say. I give you an order, and you follow it without question. I’ve been charge with acting as your guardian by that damned wolf, and I’ll die to keep you safe because that’s a slightly better option than being turned into a Hurlock. But if you disobey me then I’ll beat you myself and it will be within an inch of your worthless life! Do you understand me, Yeager?” the teen was shaking now, but he nodded. “Good. Now, get up! Your horse is over there.” Straightening up, he jerked his chin in the direction of the tethered dust grey stallion. “Mount up; we’re leaving.”

                “Already?” he yelped.

                “I’ve been over this with you already, Mage Brat! We’re not even 500 yards outside the city right now and the sun is starting to rise!” Levi snapped at him. “Crossing any part of the desert during the day is miserable as fuck but we don’t have much choice at the moment. We’ll ride all day and most of the next night, then find what shelter we can to rest for the day.”

                “Yes, Sir.” Eren already sounded miserable as he untied the horse’s reigns from the tree and pulled himself up into the saddle. “Lead the way.”

 

                “My brother did _what!?!”_

                Farlan instinctually recoiled at her shriek, unable to keep himself from wincing slightly at the volume. “It’s hard to believe, I know, but it’s the truth. Last night, well this morning actually, your brother cut down 10 of the Templars stationed at the White Spire. They were in the process of taking a Mage to be made Tranquil on his orders. None of them survived, but the one that made it long enough for us to ask some questions told us that his eyes changed color when he went on the attack; we think he may be possessed, especially given what he said to me yesterday.”

                “And what was that?” she demanded sharply.

                “That he’d had a nightmare; he wouldn’t tell me about what, but he eluded to having made a ‘Spirit’ angry. You first came into contact with the Mage in question in the village just on the other side of the border?”

                She nodded. “Yes. We met him at an inn called the Blue Chalice where he was working as a clerk. He was nervous to see us at first but most people are and so it didn’t set off any alarms. But after Levi was wounded by the Darkspawn and contracted the Taint he revealed his true nature; a Blood Mage. He called his Demon to save my brother; at the time I didn’t know why a Maleficar would care if a Templar lived or died but I think that now I understand his goals in ‘healing’ him. He’s reduced Humanity’s Strongest to a puppet!”

                The other Templar nodded grimly. “You may be right; the Divine herself has authorized you to do whatever it takes to save him, but if that fails-.”

                “I know; standard procedure. We put him down.” Behind her cold affect was evident pain.

                “Due to the involvement of the Taint you’ve been asked to include the Wardens in the search; they should be arriving from Weisshaupt soon.”

                “It’s likely that they’ll be more concerned with the Darkspawn presence in the village than the recovery of a Mage and a hostage Templar. But I’ll try.” She sighed. “Does that conclude the orders you were asked to pass on to me?”

                He nodded. “That’s the last of them. I’d advise that you make use of his team as well; they’re the best of the best, after all, and if worst comes to worst you’ll need them.”

                “I know.”

                “And if you need anything…”

                “Thank you, Farlan. We may speak again later, but for now I have work to do.” Breaking the connection, she turned and made her way deeper into the Chantry building to the room where the four members of her brother’s team were waiting; still in their traveling cloaks and nervously scattered about the small space. Petra was the first to spot her.

                “Mikasa!” All eyes instantly went to the ravenette. “Where’s your brother? They wouldn’t tell us anything, just that it was urgent.”

                “It is.” She said quietly, closing the door behind her. “We met a Blood Mage on our last mission; he helped us, so my brother wouldn’t allow me to kill him. He kept spouting nonsense about how he was a ‘healer’ and that it wasn’t a Demon but a ‘spirit’ that the boy was communing with. I should have seen the warning signs, but I let him take him to the White Spire alone. Last night he slaughtered ten of the Spire’s Templars and took off into the Orlesian desert on horseback with the Maleficar.”

                “Heichou has been turned into a puppet? You must be joking!”

                “Is that even possible? He’s the strongest that our Order has ever known; there’s no way Blood Magic could take his mind!”

                “Blood Magic didn’t. That crafty bastard put his Demon into my brother’s body while he was healing his wounds!” She told them starkly. “There’s no guarantee that he’ll be released if we killed the Maleficar responsible as Demons don’t return to the Fade so easily.”

                “You’re not suggesting that we put him down, are you?”

                “We may not have another choice.” She replied sadly. “I’d rather know that my brother is with the Maker than have him alive and being used as a vessel for Evil. That isn’t a fate a warrior like him deserves.”

                Silence in the room for a moment.

                “She’s right.” It was Eld who spoke up first. “A life as a slave to one of them is worse than death. Not to mention the tool at the disposal of the Demons if we leave him to them. He’s powerful enough on his own, but as a puppet to any Demon his strength would increase 10 fold or more. We have to do this.”

                “What’s the plan, then, since it seems like you’re in charge.”

                “We head back to that village and meet up with the Grey Wardens. The Taint is what lead my brother to be made vulnerable to that jackal in the first place, so hopefully they’ll be able to help us. Our orders are to do whatever is necessary to convince them.”


	7. Ulterior Motives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bombshell is dropped in regards to the Taint afflicting Levi; a few hints about An'owyn's true identity as more than just a spirit; Eren keeps a potentially harmful secret; The Grey Warden's get involved in the search for Levi and Eren.

 

                They’d been traveling for days now and little communication had gone on between the pair; Eren had tried to engage the Templar in conversation numerous times only to be shot down. Levi refused to speak to him unless it was to issue an order or hurl an insult, and eventually even stubborn as he was Eren gave up. The desert was hellishly hot by day even in the shade but by night it was colder than the harshest winter and despite the fire burning only a few feet in front of him his breath still rose in diaphanous silver clouds. They had stopped to break for dinner-a couple of strange looking lizards Levi had captured while they were sunning themselves on the rocks and a few dried rations-about an hour before  and now with nothing left to eat but not quite wanting to move yet the pair sat in uncomfortable silence. Suddenly, Eren stood up.

                “Where the hell do you think you’re going, Mage Brat?” Levi demanded harshly.

                “To get some water; there’s a creek a couple yards that way.” He informed his companion softly. “We have no way of knowing when we’ll run into water again, so…”

                “Go. But don’t fucking make me go looking for you; no dawdling!”

                “Yes, Sir.” But he didn’t have any intention of obeying that order despite knowing that doing so would be tempting the raven’s wrath. He didn’t really even want the water, but it had been a convenient explanation to get him what he did want: some time alone. The further that he moved from the fire the colder and darker it became and soon he was forced to find his way by faint pale moonlight and the soft trickling of water and eventually he found his way to his intended destination. The creek was very small indeed, little more than a thin silver ribbon winding its way across the desolate landscape for a few feet before being swallowed by the parched sands; only about a foot wide at its largest point and a few inches deep at most but it was _water_ : a precious commodity in lands as harsh as these and around it was the green of grasses and a few pastel colored flowers. Eren sighed heavily, pulling his knees up to his chest as if the pressure of them against him would somehow ease the aching in his heart. The paw prints in the sand were the first sign of his presence before the spirit appeared, shedding its pale glow over the dusk-fallen bank. Once more the size of a normal wolf, he pressed his cool damp nose gently into the crook of his neck.

                “An’owyn.” One hand reached out to rest in the warm, soft fur; the spirit shuffled closer with a soft huffing sound and allowed the brunet to bury his face in its scruff. “You’re back.”

                “ _I’ve never been gone; I was simply shadowing the Templar as a remind. A warning.”_ The spirit replied. “ _I came to you now because I can feel your sorrow. I do not understand why you are in pain; you are free of the Circle and will soon never have to worry about the Chantry’s shadow. So why are you unhappy?”_

                “I’m not ungrateful to you, but…why? Why did you lie to me about Levi. Why are you forcing him to do this?”

_“I did what I had to in order to protect you. I knew what he would do to you if you saved him, and I also knew that you would not allow him to die to save yourself. This way, both of you will live.”_

                “I’m glad that he’ll survive; I value all life and I don’t think that he deserves to die because of his beliefs. And I’m grateful for all that you’ve done for me. But…I don’t want to be stuck with him for the rest of my life!”

                “ _You won’t be, either way._ ” An’owyn assured him. “ _If you so desire, I will allow him his freedom once you reach the Imperium’s safety. If not, he will only remain for ten more years.”_

Green eyes peered up from the soft fur in surprise. “What do you mean? He can’t be more than 5 years older than me; I’m only 15! He has more than 10 years left in him, surely!” The wolf wouldn’t meet his eyes. “An’owyn.”

                The spirit whined pitifully. “ _The Taint is a curse placed upon both realms as repayment for your kind’s Second Sin and my kind’s first. Even I cannot hold it at bay forever, not without risking falling as my sibling’s have. In the end I have only bought your Templar more time. It is inevitable that he will become a Ghoul.”_

“A G-Ghoul?” Eren repeated. “What’s a Ghoul? I thought Humans became Hurlocks!”

                “It is a truth that only Grey Wardens know; none of the surface races become true Dark Spawn. The woman who survive the Taint become Broodmothers, but the men have no chance. They are driven insane by the infection, become Ghouls and die after a tortured six month long existence.”

                “And there’s no way to save him?”

                The spirit shook his head. “Time can be bought once again for him, but the Taint claims all in the end; Your people, my siblings, even the Wardens. I am sorry, Eren.”

                “He deserves to know.”

                “If you tell him, if he knows that even protecting you as I have asked will not save him, he’ll no longer have any reason to look after you. And you know that we won’t make it alone.” Eren knew deep down that the spirit was right, no matter how much it sickened him, and An’owyn could sense it. “I love you, Eren, as if you were my own and I will not allow harm to befall you regardless of the cost. If you must tell him the truth wait until you’ve reached Tevinter. Until then, leave him his hope.”

                Levi. So small yet big at the same time, athletic and incredibly strong despite his stature.  Black hair always kept perfectly in place, handsome and almost impossibly youthful face locked in an almost imperceptible scowl. His dark, measured, smooth voice and the scars adorning his body telling a silent tale of a life’s worth of hardship. Imagining him as a shambling, decaying monster, a victim of the Taint, filled him with guilt but the fear of the raven turning on him was stronger. “Alright,” he relented softly, feeling sick. “I won’t tell him.”

 

                Mikasa and the other four had reached the town two full days before the Wardens arrived, and had been staying at a different inn while waiting. As the Wardens-around six of them-filed in she couldn’t help but mentally grimace once again at the thought of all the time they’d already wasted. This, of course, was quickly forgotten when she caught sight of a blonde haired figure spoken of often in hushed whispers.

                “By the Maker, you’re Erwin Smith! Commander of the Grey!”

                “So it’s bad, then.” She heard Eld mutter quietly, quickly followed by soft agreement from the other two men as Petra paled slightly.

                “You are Mikasa Ackerman?” the Commander questioned and received a nod. “You are one of the Templars who were attacked?”

                Another nod. “Yes, Sir. Myself and my twin brother Levi.”

                “It would be a great help if we could speak to the both of you as to what you saw.”

                No one said a word for a moment. “I’m afraid that you’ll only be able to speak to me,” she told him. “My brother was infected by the Taint; a Blood Mage healed him but in doing so turned him into a puppet to his will. We were here to start the search for him and would appreciated it if you would lend us your aid; as the Taint is involved here we thought it would peek your interest.”

                “Give me a moment to consider this; I’d prefer to take the opinion of my men into account before making a decision like what you’re asking.” She nodded and allowed him to step away to confer with those he’d brought with him.

                “The Dark Spawn threat is here, in this village. Forget about their Mage; the Maleficar aren’t our problem!” Jean grunted, pushing his ash blonde hair back from his face.

                “Jean!” Marco yelped from beside him. “There’s more to this whole situation than that!”

                “He’s right.” Mike agreed. “There’s far more to it; Hurlocks and Genlocks are fairly normal, Ghouls aren’t necessarily a cause for concern, but an Ogre above ground can only mean one thing: a Blight. It doesn’t mean that it will come tomorrow, but it warns that within the next few years we’ll be up to our ears in Dark Spawn.”

                “And we don’t have enough Warden’s to deal with a Blight at the moment.” Hanji piped up. “Finding people to join our order is difficult enough, and adding in the fact that many don’t survive means the odds aren’t exactly stacked in our favor. Humanity’s Strongest Soldier would be a great addition to our forces, and this mysterious ‘Blood Mage’ could be of help as well as even stalling the Taint’s progression shouldn’t be possible beyond taking part in a Joining.”

                “So we’re helping these Chantry bastards, then?”

                “Yes, we are.”

                Leaving the small huddle, the Commander made his way back to the waiting Templars. “Show us to where you encountered them and tell us how it was that your brother came to be infected and we’ll see what we can do to help you.”

                “I’m not sure I can lead you to the exact place, but the general area shouldn’t be too difficult to reach. It’s relatively deep in the forest, in a clearing just passed a creek.” The others followed her as she left the inn and started making her way down the street out of town. “That farm over there is where it happened; we were investigating the scene of a strange killing of a cow. He didn’t notice the dagger lying in the tall grass and put his hand down on the blade; it slid into a chink in his gauntlet and stabbed him in the hand.”

                “Would you still happen to have that dagger?”

                “I might.” She could remember her brother handing the blade to her, carefully wrapped in the white fabric of one of the cravats he wore while in civilian dress. A few moments of searching through her bag awarded her with the blade, still wrapped in the now stained fabric; she handed it over to the Mage-Warden who carefully unwrapped it as the other wardens crowded around to look as well.

                “As if we needed any more warning signs,” Mike growled with a curse. “That’s an Emissary’s dagger!”

                “An Emmisary?” Petra piped up, made nervous by the apprehension spreading through the little group.

                “Some of the more intelligent variations of Dark Spawn.” Erwin explained. “They’re able to use magics similar to a Blood Mages and, if of the Hurlock variety, speak in Human tongues. They’re only rarely seen outside of the deep roads, usually in the preceding stages of or during a Blight.”

                “Is that what we’re dealing with?” Oluo demanded, biting his tongue in the process out of excitement.

                “There have been a number of concerning signs, I won’t lie to you, but it’s still years off if one is coming.” He replied, wrapping the dagger up again and putting it into his own pack. “We’ll dispose of this properly so that no one else is at risk of becoming afflicted. Mike, take Jean and Marco to search the forest; come back to town the moment you’ve finished with the problem.”

                “Yes, Sir!” The youngest members of the group seemed somewhat reluctant, but hesitantly followed the older warden into the trees.

                “Can you tell us anymore of what happened to your brother after he was afflicted by this dagger?”

                “He seemed fine at first, but a few hours later he nearly collapsed. I thought it was heat stroke, but he seemed fine after we stopped to rest and I forced him to drink some water. His arm was clearly paining him, but he insisted that he was fine and so we continued. At the time we didn’t know what we were dealing with but I think he knew what had really happened to him the moment that the Ogre appeared; he forced me to run and stayed behind to hold them off. I thought that he was dead for sure but when I finally made it back into town I found him upstairs in the inn with that Blood Mage bastard standing over his body. My brother regained consciousness but he wasn’t the same; I left to send a message about what we’d seen but they stayed for a few days longer before setting out for the White Spire.”

                “Perhaps we can retrace their steps?” he looked towards Hanji, who nodded. “Which Inn?”

                “The Blue Chalice. It’s near the middle of town; I can point you to the right room though I doubt the innkeeper’s grandson will be happy to see me.”

                “The entire village doesn’t seem happy to see you,” Hanji pointed out brightly. “I spoke to some of the villagers on the way in; they know you as the ‘Templar bitch that took our Healer’.”

                “Maleficar are monsters no matter how they try to hide it!” She growled back.

                The other woman sighed. “You just see Blood Mages behind every tree, don’t you deary?”

                “Hanji, that’s enough.” Erwin warned. “Mikasa, please take us to the inn. Mike, Jean and Marco will be fine on their own; we’ll be able to track your brother using the Taint that will still be present in his blood, but until we get within a few miles of him we’ll need some other way of tracking them and every moment we waste is one more where they’re further out of reach.”

                Ten minutes of walking in silence later the faded sign came into view, swinging gently in the breeze with soft creaking sounds.  The well-oiled hinges of the door swung open, allowing the group into the clean in.

                “Welcome to the-oh, it’s you.” Even while unfriendly and glaring the little blonde was the furthest thing possible from intimidating. “They’re not here; your brother dragged Eren away almost a week ago.”

                “We’re not going to bother you for long.” Petra assured him, stepping between Armin and Mikasa in the most casual way possible to make sure the ravenette didn’t do anything rash. “We just need to take a look at a few things.”

                “Would you mind pointing the way to your friend’s room?” Hanji asked him, pushing from behind the others to get to the forefront of the group with a manic grin on her face.

                “A mage?” he seemed surprised. “Why are you with the Templars, I thought they threw every one of you in locked towers to ‘keep you safe’.”

                At this she laughed. “They do, but I’m not with them. I’m a Grey Warden and we’ve got a potentially Tainted Templar on our hands; there’s a real risk that his blood can infect others even if he isn’t showing the signs of carrying it. Tracking them down is paramount, so please don’t hold us up.”

                His blue eyes remained suspicious, but he finally relented. “Alright, I’ll take you up to his room.” They were lead up the stairs and passed the floor that she had stayed on and into a large attic space. A bed had been set beneath the single, good sized window through which sunlight spilled in copious amounts onto the rumpled sheets that looked as if they hadn’t been properly made in weeks. Dust moats played wildly around them and the dry, warm air smelled strongly of the dried herbs that hung from the bare rafters and the yellowing pages of the old text books scattered about in piles. A small dresser stood nearby, many of the empty drawers pulled out and the clothing that had once been in them piled about the top and draped over the mirror instead. A small leather bound journal was just barely visible beneath the drifts of fabric, which the Commander excavated and started thumbing through. Pictured penned in charcoal and ink fluttered into fleeting view, until he stopped on the full color image of a golden wolf standing atop the body of a fallen Demon with blood dripping from its muzzle and the black city rising at its back.

                “So this is his ‘spirit’.” Closing the book, he replaced it. “Interesting.”

                “I found something that I can use to look in on them and perhaps get an idea of where they are!” Hanji trilled, crawling out from under the bed with dust bunnies clinging to her hair and a golden key dangling on a string held triumphantly in the air. “With this we have the capacity to spy on them anywhere outside the Fade.”

                “Good,” Erwin said. “How long will it take you to set up the ritual?”


End file.
